Chase knight
June 21, 2025
Exploring Attacks on Availability
An attack on availability is a form of cyber assault designed to disrupt or
completely block legitimate users from accessing critical systems, services, or data.
These attacks specifically target the availability component of the CIA triad
Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability a cornerstone of information security. Unlike
breaches aimed at data theft or manipulation, availability attacks render digital
resources inaccessible, leading to operational downtime, financial losses, and
reputational damage. Organizations heavily reliant on continuous digital services, such
as financial institutions, healthcare providers, and e-commerce platforms, are
particularly vulnerable.
Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are a common and
increasingly sophisticated method of disrupting availability. In a DDoS attack, a network
of compromised devices, often forming a botnet, overwhelms a target server or network
with a flood of requests or traffic, exhausting its resources and preventing normal
operation. A significant recent instance occurred in June 2025, when Cloudflare
reported mitigating a record-breaking DDoS attack. This attack peaked at 7.3 terabits
per second (Tbps), delivering over 37.4 terabytes of data in just 45 seconds. The
assault leveraged a combination of UDP floods and reflection/amplification techniques, using spoofed IP packets directed at misconfigured servers to redirect traffic to the
victim (Tom’s Hardware, 2025). This illustrates the scale and complexity of modern
DDoS attacks.
The implications of such attacks are far-reaching. Organizations face
immediate operational disruptions, halting online services, delaying customer
transactions, or even shutting down critical infrastructure, as seen in past attacks on
airports, healthcare providers, and government systems. Financially, disruptions can
lead to revenue losses, increased cybersecurity expenses, and potential legal penalties,
especially in regulated sectors. Reputational damage from repeated failures can erode
customer trust. Users may experience denied access to essential services like email,
online banking, or healthcare portals, which can be especially detrimental during
emergencies. Persistent attacks on availability can undermine public confidence in
digital systems, prompting demands for stricter regulations and more robust defensive
technologies.
Work cited
● Tom’s Hardware. (2025). Massive DDoS attack delivered 37.4TB in 45 seconds.
https://www.tomshardware.com
● Wired. (2025). What Really Happened With the DDoS Attacks That Took Down
X. https://www.wired.com
● The Guardian. (2025). Pro-Russian hackers claim to have targeted several UK
websites. https://www.theguardian.com